


Broken and Alone

by LONEzy



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-10 14:02:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 12,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11693166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LONEzy/pseuds/LONEzy
Summary: Everyone was gone. Dead. And he was the only one left. He was alone. Absolutely alone. That's how he had been for the past 10 years.** This story of mine is also posted on Fanfiction.net under the same name. I didn't steal it.**





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER:/ I do not own any part of Naruto, it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and associated publishers, animators, and distributors. If any OCs do end up in this story (highly unlikely) they are owned by me unless specified otherwise. Any likeliness to other fanfictions or plots, is completely unintentional.

Everyone was gone.

Dead.

And he was the only one left.

He was alone.

Absolutely alone.

That's how he had been for the past 10 years.

 

**-o0O0o-**

 

"Is... is this it?" his voice haggard from disuse. Who was there to talk to when you were alone?

His words were spoken in disbelief. Could he finally have found it after years of searching?

He unrolled the scroll. A vast and complex jutsu formula spanned the entirety of the scroll. He started at it intently. Looking at the lines in the seals that littered the scrolls surface, trying to find confirmation that this was what he had been looking for.

This was his last chance. His last try. If this wasn't it, he didn't know what he was going to do. He scanned the intricate lines, slowly loosing hope.

' _This... This isn't it..._ ' he began to think in defeat. What was he going to do now? He had nothing. No one. He was so alone. He wanted it to end, but it wouldn't. It couldn't. Death just could not take him.

And then he saw it. The line that identified the jutsu as the one he needed. That small line. That held so much intricacy. So much hope. And he had found it.

' _Oh Orochimaru, you creepy snake bastard, I could kiss you right now! Actually, no, scratch that. I maybe alone, but I'm not that desperate..._ ' he thought as he felt the long-forgotten feeling of hope creep through his body. Relighting the fire that had died so long ago.

He leapt to his feet, bundling up the scroll in his arms. He had to get this back 'home'. Or at least what had once been his home. All it held how was ghosts of the past, hauntings of his failures, and painful memories. But he needed to be there now. If the jutsu succeeds he did not want to be in the middle of one of Orochimaru's hideouts.

Using all the speed he could muster he sped off towards the village. He pushed himself to the absolute limit. He needed to try it now!

The village gates loomed in the distance. What had once been a marvelous and beautiful sight was now decrepit and sad. The gates falling off their hinges. Paint flaking away. Greenery slowing climbing the gates, pulling them to the earth.

But he barely spared them a glance. He raced straight through the gates. Not even looking at the depressing state of the village as he passed it. He had one place he needed to go.

He raced straight to the center of the roof of the Hokage's tower. That's where he stopped and finally looked at the village. The giant mass grave that held everyone he ever cared for. Every single one of his precious people was buried here, alongside every man, woman, and child of the village that swore to protect.

The haunting mass grave that sat as a reminder of his failure.

He snapped himself out of his depressing thoughts quickly. He had finally found the way to save everyone. To fix everything.

He unraveled the entire scroll and began pouring over the jutsu formula, committing it to memory. He could not make a mistake!

He knew the jutsu was going to take almost every ounce of chakra he had in his body, including that of the bijuu's.

But he didn't care.

The bijuu were gone, only their chakra remained. He didn't care if he died from chakra exhaustion. Just as long as it worked!

He had finally finished committing the scroll to memory.

He stood up and faced the village. The graveyard. Exhaling a large breath, he began to channel all his chakra into a series of hand signs that seemed to flow together. His hands never missing a beat even after years of not using hand signs. It was as if Kami herself was helping him through them.

His hands were continually shifting through hand signs. His chakra building, and building. And then he settled on the final hand sign and poured everything into it.

He felt as if his body was being pulled every which way all at once.

And with a blinding flash of white light he was gone from the world.


	2. Chapter 2

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage of the village hidden in the leaves was battling with his most wretched enemy. Most would have assumed it was Orochimaru that he was battling, but they would be wrong.

While his enemy may be as white and pale as the snake sannin, it was by far more evil and malevolent.

This enemy was paperwork.

The bane of the Sandaime's existence.

It just would never end. As soon as he finished one page, two more would take its page. ' _Is it a Kami-damned hydra from those myths?!_ ' the Sandaime thought in exasperation.

The battle with paperwork was never ending. It had been so long since he had been able to see his sons and grandson, and longer still since he had seen Naruto.

He heaved a large sigh at the thought of Naruto. The poor boy had had such a rough life so far. The glares and whispers from the villagers was bad enough, but it was always worse on the boy's birthday. Another sigh escaped the Sandaime's mouth at the thought of the boy's birthday that was approaching quickly. It had almost been 12 years since the Kyuubi attacked, and the villagers just could not let go of their hate.

 _'That's it, I need to go see how he is doing_ ' the Sandaime thought as he looked out the window to the great stone faces. More specifically to the face of the fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Naruto's father.

He was the one they had to be thankful to for this time of peace. Sure, there were some hiccups *cough* Orochimaru *cough*, but they were minor in the grand scheme of things. The Sandaime was truly thankful of this time of peace, and was going to enjoy it as much as he could.

However, those thoughts were dashed from his mind instantly as a blinding white flash lit up the entire office. Sarutobi instantly got into a battle stance, and the ANBU readied the weapons in their hiding spots. But once the light cleared they saw what was the source of the light.

A man, who seemed to be somewhere in his twenties, lay crumpled on the floor. Sarutobi slowly walked towards the man with long pale blonde hair. When he saw the man's haggard and tired face, he was confused. What kind of ninja would use a technique to infiltrate the Hokage's office if it was only going to end with them lying barely conscious on the floor?

"Who are you?" Sarutobi asked to the tired figure on the floor no expecting an answer. One of the blonde man's eyes slowly cracked open and Sarutobi saw the most deep and brilliant blue eyes, that he could have sworn he had seen before. But he could never remember looking into eyes that held so much pain, sadness, and loneliness in all of his long life. The young man's unfocused eyes slowly trailed from the floor to Sarutobi's face. A small smile graced the blonde's lips.

"Jiji..." the young man sighed as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Sarutobi's mind was whirling. Only two people called him that. One was most likely with his mother at this moment, while the other should be at the academy (though he was most likely pulling a prank at this second), and neither of those two boys were in their twenties.

"Hokage-sama? What should we do with him?" one of the ANBU asked, drawing Sarutobi from his thoughts.

"Take him to the hospital and have him treated, but there is to be at least two ANBU watching him at all times. No exceptions" Sarutobi ordered.

"Hai, Hokage-sama" two ANBU said as they picked up the limp form of the stranger and shushined him to the hospital.


	3. Chapter 3

He slowly felt himself drifting back into consciousness. Though it was not a foreign feeling to him, as it was the only way he ever got any rest. His dreams were plagued with nightmares, that put him off sleep until his body would literally shut down on him.

Slowly the memories of what happened yesterday began to filter into him mind, and he felt like crying. Thinking he had had another dream where everything was ok. Where everything was fixed, only to wake up in solitude again.

He cracked his eyes open praying that his memories were real. A pure white roof met his gaze. Which was strange, because it was a long time since he had seen any roof as pure white as this. That was when he became aware of the blankets around him, and the soft bed he was lying in. Another strange thing to him. He never slept in beds or with blankets, as they had all began to rot away over the years. That's why he was thoroughly confused.

And then he heard it.

A small shuffle of feet.

His eyes instantly snapped to the source daring to hope that it had not been his imagination. But there stood two people.

Two living people.

And the only thing he could do was cry.

 

**-o0O0o-**

 

The two ANBU stood watch in the strangers room. He had been out cold all night. The doctors had said that the man was a wreck. Malnutrition, fatigue, exhaustion, dehydration, but most significantly was the chakra exhaustion. The doctors had said he had used almost all the chakra in his body, which they remarked was A LOT. ' _What kind of jutsu had caused him to use THAT much chakra?!_ '

But they were roused from their thoughts when they heard the slight rustle of blankets signifying that the stranger was awake.

Those deep blue eyes slowly opened and simply stared at the roof almost unseeing. The Dog ANBU nodded to the Bear ANBU signaling him to send a clone to tell the Hokage that the stranger was awake.

There had only been the slightest scuffle of feet as the clone left, but the stranger heard it as his entire body went tense. The two ANBU readied to grab their kunai if the stranger was going to attack them. But when those deep blue eyes landed on them, they were not expecting what the strangers did. He burst into tears.

The stranger bought his arm up to cover his face, as sobs wracked his body. The two ANBU were completely and utterly confused. Was this some new spy tactic? Cry your eyes out at the first sight of the enemy? While the two were stuck in their musing the Hokage walked into the small hospital room, followed by Ibiki Morino and Inoichi Yamanaka.

But the Hokage's steps slightly faltered at the sight of the man bawling his eyes out. He sent a questioning glance at the two ANBU who simply shrugged.

Sarutobi slowly walked to the bedside of the young man. Said young man pulled his arm from his face, showing red puffy eyes and a small smile.

"Jiji..."

And there was the name again. The one only two young boys called him. He rose an eyebrow at this. The stranger continued on.

"Jiji. Am... Am I dead?"

That was not the question he thought the blonde would ask.

"Ah... No. You're alive."

Those four words started a new round of waterworks from the blonde. Everyone in the room was completely and utterly confused. Though they couldn't blame the stranger for being happy to be alive. And that's when they heard it. The small chant the blonde was saying over and over.

"worked... It worked... It worked... It worked"

"What worked?" Sarutobi asked the crying blonde.

There was a slight sniffle as the young man wiped the tears from his eyes. Those deep blue eyes stared straight in to the Hokage's, who couldn't help but slightly flinch at the amount of pain and loss that the eyes held, but there was something. The smallest spark of hope.

"The jutsu" the stranger replied.

"Elaborate" Ibiki said sharply.

"I'm sorry Jiji, but could you ask the ANBU to leave. This is highly sensitive information, that I know you don't want to be spread around. I know Kakashi wouldn't spread it, but I'm not sure about Bear-san there. I promise I won't attack, but even if I did how am I to fight you, Ibiki, and Ino's dad? I don't want to hurt anyone" he finished in a quiet voice. But it went unnoticed at the amount of killer intent being leaked from everyone in the room. They all had one thing on their mind. ' _How did he know?_ '

The stranger obviously noticed the killer intent but was completely unfazed by it.

"How do you know their names" Sarutobi growled out in suspicion.

"Highly sensitive" was all the stranger replied with.

Sarutobi sighed in frustration. He needed answers from the stranger more so then ever now, but he won't talk in front of the ANBU. Should he trust that the stranger won't attack? If he did, would Ibiki, Inoichi, and himself be enough to stop him?

He could just get Ibiki to take the stranger, but he had a feeling that the stranger would not react to torture, not from the look in his eyes. He gave another sigh, he seemed to be doing it a lot lately.

"Very well. Dog, Boar, please leave us."

The two ANBU shushined away, leaving Ibiki, Inoichi, Sarutobi and the stranger alone.

"Alright, start talking" Ibiki demanded.

The stranger heaved a big sigh. This was going to take a while.


	4. Chapter 4

"SASUKE!" he yelled out as he saw Kaguya's attack pierce his brother's chest. He rushed over to his fallen brother as quick as he could. Blood was already pouring from the wound and Sasuke's mouth.

"Dobe... You need to stop her. Stop Kaguya and save everyone" Sasuke rasped out.

"Sasuke stop talking, Sakura can heal you" he said as tears poured from his eyes.

"You were always slow to realize things Dobe."

"SHUT UP TEME!" he said as he desperately tried to staunch the wound. But it would never work.

"Listen... I... I need you to take my eye. You can defeat her with it, and release the jutsu..." Sasuke said as more blood poured from his mouth.

"No, no, no. Don't talk like that Sasuke! I still have to bring you back to the village! What about the other part of your dream. To restore your clan!"

"Dobe... I need you to do this. For me. Save everyone" Sasuke said as his eyelids began to droop.

"Sasuke! SASUKE! Don't you dare leave again!"

"Dobe... You really... are... my... brother... And... my... best-friend..." Sasuke said as he shuddered out his last breath.

"Don't leave Sasuke! I can't bring you back from where you're going!" he said as picked up Sasuke's limp body. He jumped over to where Sakura and Kakashi were holed up. Kaguya tore open a portal to another dimension and stepped through, leaving them in the lava filled dimension.

He landed next to Sakura, Sasuke still tightly clutched in his arms.

"SASUKE!" the pink haired kunoichi screamed at the sight of Sasuke's limp body. She ran over, hoping to heal him, but knew it was too late. Kakashi looked down, saddened at the loss of one of his students.

The trio sat their grieving their friend for what seemed like an eternity. Until Sakura finally spoke up.

"I'll transfer his eye into you. Then we can leave here and stop Kaguya."

He just sat there and stared at his deceased brother. He slowly nodded.

Sakura completed the procedure as quickly and cleanly as she could, with her low chakra levels it was tough on her, but she managed. With his newly implanted eye he opened up a portal to a dimension, hoping it was to where Kaguya went. Sakura stood on shaky feet and Kakashi hefted up Sasuke's body. They all stepped through the portal.

They stepped out back in the frozen dimension they had been in before. And there she stood Kaguya. She looked as though she had been waiting for them.

She had.

Two of her black rods suddenly appeared and flew straight towards them. Sakura, weakened for her lack of chakra, and Kakashi, weighed down by Sasuke, were unable to move in time. The rods shot straight through their hearts. Killing them instantly.

He just stood there as he saw his comrade and sensei fall to the ground. The white snow quickly began to drown in red blood.

A wordless scream tore from his lips as he shot towards his fallen team. But there was nothing he could do. He turned his murderous gaze on Kaguya. And all he saw was red.

 

**-o0O0o-**

 

He came back to himself eventually. He was crouched over Kaguya's dead body. It was barely recognizable. Burnt and battered. He did some hand signs that he was barely conscious of and sealed her body away. He then turned to the remains of his team. Two clones poofed into existence. They all picked up a body each and stepped through a portal back to their world.

 

**-o0O0o-**

 

He laid their bodies next to each other at the base of the large tree that trapped all his surviving friends. Doing the ram sign he dispelled the jutsu. The tree arms slowly bent and withered as the cocoons reached the ground. The wrappings crumbed away, exposing all the shinobi that had been captured in the jutsu. He saw some of his friends lying there. He was wondering why they had not got up yet. No one had. He slowly walked over to them. Holding his breath. Hoping that what he thought was happening was not. He reached Kiba first. He bent down and shook the boy.

Nothing.

"Kiba" he shook again.

Nothing.

Trembling fingers reached for the pulse point in Kiba's neck.

Nothing.

"No..."

He turned quickly and saw Hinata and ran over.

Nothing.

Shino.

Nothing

Gaara.

Nothing.

Lee.

Nothing.

Tsunade baa-chan.

Nothing.

Shikamaru.

Nothing.

There was nothing.

Not a single breath of life.

' _No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No._ '

He didn't know what to do. As quick as he could he headed for the nearest hidden village, Kumo.

Nothing.

Kiri.

Nothing.

Iwa.

Nothing.

Suna.

Nothing.

Konoha.

Nothing.

There was nothing.

Not a single breath of life.

He returned to war front. What was he to do now. He stood there looking at his departed friends. Tears poured from his eyes.

' _Kurama?_ '

...Nothing.

' _Guys?_ '

Nothing.

' _Shukaku? Matatabi? Isobu? Son Goku? Kokuo? Saiken? Chomei? Gyuuki?_ '

Nothing.

' _Anyone?_ '

...

Nothing...

He collapsed to the ground. Tears pouring from his face.

"Please..."

"Please don't leave me here alone."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING:/ Mentions of suicidal thoughts, and attempts at suicide. Read at own risk.

"I don't remember much of what happened after that. I remember waking up, a lot of blood around me, and seeing thin lines on my wrists healing shut" the stranger continued. The other occupants of the room were in stunned silence. They could never imagine being in a situation like that.

"It was over the next couple of years that I really tried to kill myself. What point was the staying in a world where no one was alive. I tried so many different ways. Cutting myself. Drowning. Starvation. Sleep deprivation. Dehydration. Chakra exhaustion. Jumping off cliffs. Nothing worked. My stupid healing ability made it so I would wake up a few hour later in pain, but alive."

They could not believe how callous and carefree way the stranger spoke about his attempts at suicide.

"It was for about 5 years that I lived, yet barely lived. After that I spent the next 3 years hunting down jutsu to bring everyone back. I remembered the resurrection jutsu that had been used during the war. I wanted everyone back, but I didn't want to enslave them to me like that."

"What was the jutsu that was used?" Sarutobi asked hoping the stranger wouldn't say the words that he dreaded to hear.

"The one Orochipedo uses a lot."

' _Well, that was definitely not the answer I was expecting_ ' Sarutobi thought as the room sweat dropped.

"Orochipedo?" the Sandaime asked.

"Oh, the snake, Orochimaru." Sarutobi felt his killer intent rise at the sound of his ex-students name.

"What was the jutsu name?!" Sarutobi asked in desperation.

"Edo Tensei."

The world stopped for Sarutobi. If the stranger was telling the truth, which he was almost sure of, then his ex-student somehow got a hold of one of the most taboo kinjutsu that the village had. He exhaled a large sigh before motioning for the stranger to continue.

"Well, yeah I didn't want to use that, so I went looking for an alternative. I remembered one of the people I had fought in my life, and he had resurrected an entire village. But the strain had killed him, and he was strong. So, I knew that even if I could somehow do the jutsu I wouldn't be able to bring everyone back. So, I moved on, but I kept it as a backup.

I then spent the next two years looking for an alternative. I eventually found the answer. Time-space jutsu, but further than anyone had ever tried before. The amount of chakra needed was insane, it was just good that I have such large reserves. I found the jutsu in one of Orochipedo's hideouts. I then came back to the village I had not set foot in for almost 10 years."

The stranger let out a large shaky breath. He then answered the unasked question.

"I had not returned to the village because the last time I was there was when I was burying my precious people. After waking up after my first attempt at suicide I had gone back to the war front and took everyone back to their villages and buried them along with every villager." The strangers voice strained at the memory. Even Ibiki, the hardened torturer wouldn't think he could manage that much death.

"Why?" Ibiki asked. "Why did you burry everyone, even the ones from the other villages?"

There was a resounding silence. It was as though the stranger was struggling to find the words. The words that he had told himself for the last 10 years straight. After a few minutes, he replied in a quiet voice.

"Because it was my fault."

' _What?_ ' all of the other occupants of the room thought. They didn't understand how the stranger had come to the conclusion that everyone was dead because of him.

"Why do you think it was your fault?" Sarutobi asked.

"Because they were fighting the war for me."

Sarutobi stared intently at the young man, and then he saw them. 6 extremely hidden and faded lines on either on the stranger's cheeks. The lined his face like whiskers. Only one person had those makings. An 11-year-old prankster.

"What is your name? Who are you?" Sarutobi asked, dreading the inevitable answer.

The stranger closed his eyes, exhaled deeply and reopened his eyes, this time a small smile on his lips.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki/Namikaze. And I was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."


	6. Chapter 6

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki/Namikaze. And I was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."

No one spoke.

No one could.

Especially not Sarutobi. The boy he thought of as a grandson had been through hell. No, worse than hell. He stood there in silence grieving for his surrogate grandson.

It was Ibiki who found his voice first.

"So, time travel?" he asked.

The now identified Naruto nodded.

"It's a bit farfetched don't you think?" stated the torturer.

Naruto turned his head to look dead into Ibiki's eyes, and it took all of Ibiki's willpower not to flinch at the pain in those deep ocean blue eyes.

"You can have Inoichi-san look into my memories if you need to. I wouldn't recommend it, but if you need confirmation..." Naruto trailed off. The other three occupants of the room looked at each other. They silently agreed, and Inoichi stepped forward and rested his hand on Naruto's forehead. Naruto had flinched at the contact, not having had anyone touch him in so long. The hand was warm. It seemed to push back some of the chilling loneliness that engulfed him.

He then felt the tug of Inoichi entering his mind, and he followed.

 

**-o0O0o-**

 

Inoichi entered the mind of the so called 'Naruto' and found himself in a broken sewer.

"Wow. This place is even worse than before..."

Inoichi jumped at the sudden voice and found 'Naruto' standing next to him.

"How? How are you here?" Inoichi asked the whiskered blonde.

"Huh? Well, it's my mind isn't it? I used to come here a lot. But I haven't been here in a long time."

Inoichi stood there with a calculating look aimed at 'Naruto'. No one should be able to enter their mind like this unless they were a Yamanaka, especially if they were subjected to a mind jutsu like this. The only ones that were capable of entering their minds this deeply were... were Jinchuuriki.

' _Maybe he really is telling the truth..._ '

"Anyway, last I remember the memories were in that direction" Naruto said as he pointed over towards a corridor. "If you don't mind, I have something I need to check." Naruto then turned around and walked away before Inoichi could argue.

Inoichi turned to the corridor and hesitantly walked down the corridor. ' _If he is telling the truth, this will be hell_.' He walked towards a door a little way from the entrance of the corridor, signifying it was a couple of years old. The door was pitch black. ' _Will this put me in that war he was talking about?_ ' Inoichi thought as he opened the door and stepped in.

 

**-o0O0o-**

 

Naruto was walking through the decrepit but familiar corridors, with one destination in mind, a place he used to visit a lot. He rounded a corner and walked into his destination.

Large barred gates sat open and hanging off their hinges. The occupant that was once behind them was nowhere to be seen.

He could feel nine familiar chakras floating through the air, but no conscious flowed with them.

He walked through the gateway, looking around for his friends that had disappeared 10 years ago, ' _or is it a few years from now?_ '

But they weren't there.

Naruto sighed in defeat and resigned himself to never seeing the bijuu again. At least not the ones he knew.

Naruto wandered away from the empty cage, back to where Inoichi was.

 

**-o0O0o-**

 

Inoichi practically fell out of the memory. It hard been just like 'Naruto' described it, only worse to actually experience. He felt like puking. He knew he was going to need some good sake after this.

He rose out of the water that lurked on the floor of 'Naruto's' mindscape.

"Definitely not my most pleasant memory" a voice said in a hollow joking way. Inoichi turned and saw the other blonde standing there.

"You don't say." Inoichi deadpanned.

"Where did you go?"

"Oh, to see if Kurama really was gone."

"Kurama?"

"The Kyuubi."

"Oh. And is it?"

"He. And yes, he is" absolute sadness saturating Naruto's words.

"Well, from what I saw in your memories, it seems as though you were close. Well, as close as one can be to a demon."

"He's not a demon! He was just consumed by hatred! The bijuu were made by geezer sage to help keep peace and balance in the world, but the humans sealed them and used them as weapons! Kurama didn't even mean to attack the village, he was controlled!" Naruto yelled, getting angrier by the second.

Inoichi realised that he had hit a serious nerve, and started apologising to the other blonde for insulting his friend.

Naruto just huffed out a depressed sounding sigh and looked away from Inoichi. One he had calmed down he turned back to the Yamanaka.

"So, do you need to see anymore memories?" he asked.

"Ah, yeah. Some of your earlier ones, just so I can confirm you are who you say you are."

"Way you go then. I'll just wait here."

Inoichi nodded and turned away from the other blonde and headed towards the older memories.

When he found a door where this 'Naruto' would be the same age as the Naruto that was in the village, he entered it.

The memory was of just the other day. It was when Naruto had pulled one of his pranks, which was a whole heap of paint bombs rigged throughout the academy. Naruto was seen jumping out the window with Iruka yelling for him to get back to class. Suddenly there was a large muffed exploding sound, and through the few open windows of the academy one could see paint flying out. Inoichi had to chuckle at the prank when he saw the results. Everyone that had been in the building was slowing filling out into the courtyard, now covered in a rainbow of different colours. Inoichi could see his daughter come out of the academy yelling about how the paint was going to ruin her hair and clothes. (Which she had complained about to Inoichi later that day, saying he needed to buy her a new outfit).

Inoichi had the proof they needed. The other blonde really was Naruto Uzumaki, as impossible as it seemed. He left the memory and wandered back to the other blonde.

"You got everything you need?" Naruto asked when Inoichi got back. Inoichi just nodded in confirmation and released the jutsu.


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto reopened his eyes and found himself staring at the same hospital roof as before. He heard a small shuffling sound to his left and he glanced over seeing Inoichi standing up from where he was slouched during the jutsu.

"And...?" the Hokage asked expectantly to Inoichi. Inoichi looked at Naruto, grief in his eyes from what he had seen.

"It's him. He is Naruto."

The three other occupants all looked at Naruto with pity in their eyes. Naruto got a little angry at that.

"Don't" he growled. "I never wanted pity as a kid, and I don't want it now" he said firmly.

All wiped the pity from their eyes as much as they could.

"Ibiki, Inoichi you can leave now and return to T&I" the Sandaime said. Said two bowed slightly to the Hokage and left.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. For all you have gone through. I know you don't want pity, but I can't help but feel sad my grandson had to go through so much" Sarutobi said as he turned to look at Naruto again.

"Thanks, Jiji." Naruto said with a small smile.

"There is one thing I don't understand. How did everyone die? From the sounds of it, they should have woken from the jutsu" Sarutobi queried.

"I don't know Jiji. Rikudō Oji-chan said that everyone would wake up, but when I got back, he was gone, so were all the revived Hokage. The bijuu had all put some of their chakra into me, which could connect to their conscious, but upon my return the amount of chakra they left in me suddenly grew to as if they were sealed in me, but their consciences were gone. I have tried to figure out what happened but I haven't figured it out..." Naruto trailed off.

Sarutobi was dumbfounded. His surrogate grandson from the future had nine bijuu's worth of chakra, on top of whatever he had beforehand. The thought was insane. No one else had this much chakra. ' _His capabilities as a ninja would be astounding_!' Sarutobi thought.

"So, what are you going to do know?" Sarutobi said with some seriousness in his voice, trying to move the conversation away for the sake of saving Naruto from those depressing memories.

"Stop it. Stop it all from happening."

"Okay. But how?"

"I need to find Obito. Make him see that Madara is using him."

"Obito? As in Obito Uchiha? But he died almost 14 years ago."

"No, he didn't, half his body was crushed, but Madara saved him. But now he is trapped in darkness. Though I don't know where he is at this time. I will have to keep an ear out for any rumours, until then... I suppose I need to check my skills again. It's been too long since I have used them."

"How about, when you are feeling better, we find a training ground, then I can assess your skills and give you a rank accordingly. What rank were you before... well before you know?"

"I was a genin."

"WHAT?! From what I could tell from your story, you were stronger than most jounin, most kage even, how were you only a genin?" Sarutobi exclaimed in disbelief.

"Besides my first attempt at the chunin exams, I was never around when they were on, I always had a mission, or something came up, and in the end, it didn't matter..."

"Ah, well how about tomorrow we assess your skills huh?"

"Sounds great Jiji!"

"Good. Now get some more rest. I need to go. I can already feel the elders breathing down my neck about everything. Don't worry I won't tell them who you are, just that you are someone who wanted to be a shinobi, and that we have already checked you for being a spy. So, rest up Naruto, I will see you tomorrow."

"See-ya Jiji"

"Get some sleep, Naruto."

 

**-o0O0o-**

 

Naruto lay awake in the hospital bed. He still had not been able to fall asleep. How could he? The jutsu had WORKED! Everyone was alive. He could fix everything before it all went to hell. He could make sure no one died. Not Sasuke. Not Kakashi. Not Sakura. Not Jiji. No one, none of his friends would die. He could even stop the death of Pervy….

A new spring of tears flooded from his eyes. Pervy Sage. He was alive. The only real sort of paternal figure he ever had in his life was alive. He felt like leaping from the bed and tracking the man down. He was most likely at a hot spring.

But Naruto stopped himself. This Pervy Sage didn't know him. A resigned breath escaped his lips. He may have saved everyone, but they didn't know him. He was a stranger. An outsider. The once happy tears now turned to sad tears. They spilled from his eyes and dampened the pillow below him. He sat there once again mourning the loss of his precious people.

"No." Naruto's shaky voice breathed out. They may not know him, but he knew them. He would protect them. He was not letting that future happen. He would be a silent guardian angel to them all. A small smile graced his lips.

With his new resolve to protect everyone, even if it is from a far, he could feel his fatigue catching up to him again. He rolled over and snuggled deeply into the blankets. Sleep soon claimed him, leaving a small sad smile on his lips.


	8. Chapter 8

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the council chambers. A headache growing more painful with each second longer he had to spend there. Word had spread about this 'stranger', and how he had managed to infiltrate into the Hokage's office. The council was in uproar. The civilian side of the council wanted the 'spy' executed, while the shinobi side were not quite so out spoken, they wanted the 'stranger' interrogated. Hiruzen hadn't even had a moment to speak, but his patience was running out.

"Quiet!" the Sandaime yelled, silencing the room in one fell swoop. He had everyone's undivided attention.

"Now, I have already spoken to this 'stranger' and have had him interrogated by Inoichi and Ibiki. He is not a spy. He simply wanted to become a shinobi."

"How can you be so sure?" Of course, it had to be Danzo that had to challenge everything Sarutobi said.

"Well Inoichi is here, why don't you ask him what he found?" Sarutobi said as he sent 'look' at Inoichi. All eyes in the room turned to look at Inoichi.

"We looked into his memories, he has no affiliation with any villages, he grew up in the land of fire. He trained himself in ninjutsu, from what I could see. He had been experimenting with a new jutsu. That was the one that landed him in the Hokage's office with extreme chakra exhaustion. From what I could see, he is most definitely not a spy, nor a threat to this village" Inoichi said with conviction.

The room seemed to consider Inoichi's words. There was no way for this 'stranger' to lie to one of the heads of T&I. It was one of the civilian council that spoke up first.

"Well, even if he is not a spy, we cannot trust him. He definitely cannot become a ninja! We should just send him away."

"From what I could tell, he is strong, though I will be testing his abilities myself when he is well. If my assumption is correct, and he is indeed as strong as I think, he will be an invaluable asset to the village" Sarutobi argued.

The shinobi side of the council seemed to be wondering about the 'stranger's' strength. He had to be strong if the Hokage was so sure of his abilities. Even some of the civilian council was considering the 'stranger's' strength.

"But can we really trust a stranger that has as much power as you suspect? Can we really give him free rein to wander the village?" Danzo questioned, seeding doubt into a lot of peoples minds again. There was course of agitated murmuring fluttering through the room. Hiruzen decided he needed to appease the people if Naruto was going to able to stay in the village.

"While he is in the village, we could have ANBU covertly watch him for a couple of months, similar to a probation period. And while he is on missions we could team him some of our strongest Jounin, who would be able to act if he does show signs of treasonous intentions, which I highly doubt" The Sandaime proposed to the council. There was a unanimous muttering of approval.

 _'Sorry Naruto'_  Hiruzen Sarutobi thought, already suspecting the outcome of the meeting from the murmurs.

"So, we will put this to a vote then. All in favour of testing the 'stranger's' strength and employing him as a ninja fitting of his rank, with adequate supervision over a probationary period?"

The majority of the civilian council along with all of the shinobi council raised their hands. Homura and Koharu also raised their hands, though Danzo didn't raise his.

"All in favour of the 'stranger' being turned away from our village?" Here the remaining members of the civilian council raised their hands. But once again Danzo didn't raise his hand. Abstaining from the vote altogether. He wanted the 'stranger' executed. He thought he would be a large threat to the village.

"It is decided that the 'stranger' will be tested and then instated as a leaf shinobi" Sarutobi said as he rose from his chair and walked to the door, intending to visit the future Naruto again.

 

**-o0O0o-**

 

Sarutobi was walking through the halls of the hospital with two ANBU guards with him. He intended for them to watch over Naruto, to make sure Danzo didn't try anything.

He entered the hospital room and saw a sleeping Naruto. A small smile on the sleeping blonde's lips. He couldn't help but smile at the scene. His surrogate grandson looked so peaceful asleep, considering all that had happened to him.

He turned to the two ANBU.

"You will guard him. Make sure he doesn't leave and that no one but myself may enter this room. Send a clone to me as soon as he awakens" Sarutobi ordered. The two ANBU bowed to the Hokage, and the Sandaime left the hospital, taking one final glance at Naruto's sleeping form.


	9. Chapter 9

Naruto opened his eyes cautiously, still not believing that he had managed to come through time. It seemed so surreal. So impossible. But when his blue eyes opened to see the pure white walls of his hospital room, he finally believed that he truly was in the past.

He sat up and stretched his arms high above his head. He saw the two ANBU that were stationed in his room. Again he saw that one of them was Kakashi. No one else could have silver hair that defied gravity like that. The other ANBU sent a shadow clone off, Naruto presumed it was to tell Jiji he was awake.

Shortly later the door to Naruto's hospital room open and the Hokage stepped into the room. He dismissed the two ANBU.

"Morning Jiji."

"Good morning Naruto. Are you feeling up to showing me your abilities?"

"You bet" Naruto said with a smile.

"There are some clothes that should fit you in the cupboard there. Get dressed then we will head to the training grounds."

Naruto nodded and climbed out of the bed, collected the clothes and went to the bathroom to change.

When he stepped out again he was in a simple white shirt, dark blue 3/4 pants and some black shinobi sandals.

"Afterwards you can go shopping and find yourself some proper clothes" Sarutobi said as he led the way out of the hospital and away from the village to one of the training grounds.

 

**-o0O0o-**

 

"Okay, first we will test your taijutsu" Sarutobi said as they stood in the center of the training ground. Naruto nodded.

"I have asked our taijutsu expert to-"

"WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY TO HAVE A YOUTHFUL SPAR TO GAUGE ONE'S ABILITIES!"

A sudden green anomaly appeared pulling the nice guy pose, a blinding smile which seemed to shine. Most would have thought that this being in front of them was one of Orochimaru's experiments gone wrong. Horribly wrong.

Black shiny bowl cut hair. Green spandex. Orange leg warmers. And eyebrows that seemed to be alive and trying to eat this strange beings face.

But they would have been wrong. This was Konoha's Subline Green Beast of Prey; Might Gai.

Naruto couldn't help but smile at the man's over exuberance.

"My name is Might Gai, and it is so wonderful to be able to test my abilities against a youthful opponent that I have never fought before!"

"It is good to meet you Gai-san, my name is... Kei. Kei Seitoru" Naruto said, creating his new name.

"As I was saying, Gai here has said he will help in testing your taijutsu abilities" Sarutobi said picking up from where he had be interrupted.

"Come at me when you are ready Kei-san" Gai said taking up a defensive stance.

Naruto, now named Kei, began stretching and twisting, trying to loosen up his taught muscles. After it sounded like he had popped every vertebrae in his spine, he got into an attack stance.

Kei rushed forward, his speed surprisingly quick for the lack of practice. It was on par with his speed during the war. Somehow it had not diminished.  _'Perhaps the healing from the bijuu's chakra has kept my muscles from deteriorating'_  Kei thought.

He closed the gap between himself and Gai in a split second and delivered a quick jab to Gai's abdomen. Gai blocked and retaliated with his own punch. Kei dodged low and swung his legs around to sweep Gai's feet out from underneath him. Gai jumped over the attack, flipped and delivered a kick to Kei's head. Kei brought his arms up in a cross above his head and blocked the kick. He then threw his arms up, attempting to unbalance Gai, but Gai predicted this and leapt away before he could be thrown.

Sarutobi watched the intense, fast paced spar with rapt attention. ' _Naru-... Kei is truly talented to be able to match Gai_ ' he thought as the two combatants stood and faced each other.

They rushed at each other again. Kei was moving slightly quicker than before. He threw a punch towards Gai's face, but missed. Gai's attention followed the attack that seemed to have missed on purpose, completely missing the incoming knee. The knee rose up and connected with Gai's chin.

The sudden attack surprised Gai, and the force behind the knee sent him into the air. Kei dashed quickly behind Gai and kicked Gai away, into one of the nearby trees. Gai managed to right himself as he was sailing through the air and landed on his feet on the tree trunk. The force from the kick splintered the trunk. ' _What amazing force in his kicks!_ ' Gai thought, his admiration of Kei rising.

A sudden rush of feet drew Gai back from his thoughts. He saw Kei rushing to him, a smile plastering his face.

"You better dodge this, Eyebrows!" Kei said as he raised a fist. Gai took heed of Kei's warning and leapt away from the tree just as Kei threw his punch.

His punch decimated the tree. Piercing through the bark and shattered the entire trunk. Kei turned around and faced Gai and the Hokage as the top of the tree crashed to the ground behind him.

"That enough Jiji?" Kei called out across the training field.

"I think that is plenty enough to gauge from. Now both of you come over here" Sarutobi said as he ushered the two to come to him.

"That was a splendid spar Kei-san! It is good to see that the fires of youth burn brightly in you!" Gai exclaimed when the two stood before the Hokage.

"I never thought I would meet someone who could test my taijutsu abilities so well!" Gai continued.

"Indeed" the Hokage concurred.

" Ah... Thanks" Kei said as he rubbed the back of his neck in slight embarrassment.

"Well I think it is apparent that your taijutsu skills are high jounin. Possibly Kage leveled. I doubt I would be able to continue such an intense spar for long" Sarutobi said. Kei just smiled in response. Ever since he was a kid, any kind of compliment would make him happy. It meant that people were acknowledging him, and while that didn't matter to him so much anymore, the feeling of happiness still persisted.

"Anyway, Gai, you can return to your genin team now. I think I can handle the rest" Sarutobi said, dismissing the spandex clad jounin.

"Very well, Hokage-sama" Gai said as he shushined away.

"Now, shall we continue?" Sarutobi asked.


	10. Chapter 10

"Now, shall we continue?" Sarutobi asked. Kei nodded in reply.

"How about we test your genjutsu skills?"

"No need. They are practically non-existent. I can dispel genjutsu, but I cannot cast them."

"Ah, okay. Ninjutsu then."

"We might want a barrier for this. Just so no one thinks that the village is under attack. Call four of you trusted ANBU, not Kakashi though, and have them do that purple barrier."

Sarutobi nodded and signaled to his ANBU guard to come out. Four masked shinobi appeared in front of the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama?"

"I want you to perform the Four Violet Flames Formation, and anything that happens in the barrier is not to be spoken about, unless I allow it, understood?" Sarutobi ordered.

"Hai, Hokage-sama" and the ANBU flashed away. Soon a large purple barrier was forming over the training ground.

"There you go Kei. Now show me some jutsu you can do."

Kei nodded and held his hand out. A Rasengan appearing in his hand. Sarutobi eyes widened in surprise. Kei turned to one of the trees and slammed the spinning blue ball into the tree's trunk. The wood splintering away from the jutsu.

"Ah, the Rasengan. It has been a while since I have seen it. I presume Jiraiya taught it to you?" Sarutobi asked as Kei came back over.

"Yeah, the Pervy Sage took me on as his apprentice." Sarutobi burst out laughing.

"Pervy Sage... There could never be a better fitting name..." Kei smiled at the Hokage's hearty laughs.

When Sarutobi finally calmed himself, he motioned for Kei to continue with his jutsu.

"Ah well, there is also this" Kei said as he formed the Ōdama Rasengan. The large spinning ball of chakra was slammed into a tree as well. This time obliterating the tree. Sarutobi looked shocked at the increased destructive power of the Rasengan. He nodded to Kei to continue.

"Oh and perhaps the jutsu I'm most known for" Kei said as he put his fingers in a plus sign.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Seven Kei's appeared in front of the Hokage. Sarutobi's eyes opened wide in surprise.

"Seven Kage Bunshins. That is quite impressive."

"Oh, seven is nothing! Do you want to see how many I can make?" Sarutobi skeptically nodded. Kei redid the hand sign.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A large plume of smoke filled the barrier. When it dispersed Sarutobi was shocked to see every single surface inside the barrier, including the trees, was covered in exact copies of Kei. He couldn't stop his jaw from falling open. And then he saw the original Kei standing there with a small pout.

"There isn't enough room, so I couldn't make as much as I wanted."

Sarutobi couldn't believe it. There was well over 2000 clones, and Kei wasn't even winded.

"I have never seen so many clones before. Your Chakra reserves must be insane!" Sarutobi exclaimed. Kei just gave a small cheeky laugh. ' _Of course it would be huge, I have all the bijuu's chakra in me_.' Kei's smile faltered at that thought, but he brushed it away.

"Anyway, moving on" Kei said as he dispelled all the clones. He sat on the ground in a meditative stance. Sarutobi was wondering what Kei was doing, the he saw the shadowing form upon the blonde's eyelids.

' _Sage Mode?!_ '

The blonde then opened his eyes. The once blue orbs were yellow now with the pupils being horizontal bars.

"Um, well this is my Sage Mode. I can use Frog Kata while I'm like this. All my Rasengans also get a boost. But it is while I'm like this, I can do my Rasenshuriken."

"Rasenshuriken?"

In response Kei formed two clones and started to channel chakra in his hand. One clone stabilized the jutsu while the other added the wind chakra.

Sarutobi was watching Kei with rapt attention. ' _What is this jutsu?_ ' he thought as he saw the start of the Rasengan form, then the clone adding wind chakra to it. A ear splitting screech filled the air. ' _So much chakra!_ ' Sarutobi thought as he watch Kei hold up the completed jutsu, which looked like a large shuriken made of chakra.

' _What is going to do with such densely formed chakra?_ '

He was stunned when he saw Kei throw the jutsu. Surprisingly it didn't dissipate in the air. When it connected with one of the trees in the distance, the jutsu expanded and began carving into the earth. The shockwave brushed by Sarutobi who couldn't look away from the destructive capabilities of the jutsu. When the jutsu finally faded, showing a huge crater where the jutsu had hit, Sarutobi turned to Kei.

"What a splendid jutsu. You completed the Rasengan! It truly looks like a high A rank jutsu, or possibly even S rank, from its destructive capabilities!" the Hokage exclaimed.

"Ah, that's not all it does. Baa-chan said that it attacked every cell in the body, or something like that. It destroyed the target's chakra system, they couldn't wield it anymore."

"That is definitely a S rank jutsu. But what about you? What are the adverse effects?"

"Similar wounds appeared on my arm when I first successfully used it, but I had slammed it into the enemy like the Rasengan."

"That's why you use Sage Mode to do it, as I'm guessing the latent natural energy in the air is able to stabilize the jutsu?"

"I don't know. I guess so" Kei said with a non-committal shrug. Sarutobi couldn't but sweat drop at that. Here was this extremely high ranked and powerful jutsu, and the wielder didn't even know how it worked properly.

"So I am guessing you are able to do Futon (Wind Release)?" Kei nodded.

"Yep, along with Raiton (Lightning Release), Suiton (Water Release), Katon (Fire Release), Doton (Earth Release), Yoton (Lava Release), Jiton (Magnet Release), Futton (Boil Release), Inton (Yin Release), Yōton (Yang Release), and In'yōton (Yin-Yang Release)."

"What?! How?! Yoton, Jiton, and Futton are all Kekkei Genkai! And I have never heard of Yōton, Inton, and In'yōton!" Sarutobi exclaimed.

"Ah well they can be explained by this." Suddenly Kei was engulfed in yellow flames. Sarutobi hoped that Kei had meant to do this and had not just spontaneously burst into flames.

When the flames cleared Kei stood there. His shirt, shoes and hair were now bright yellow and flickering like flames. The whisker like lines on Kei cheeks darkened to black bars. Over his stomach a yellow circle appeared, along with a series of magatama around his neck. Floating behind him were 9 black balls. On his right palm was a white circle, and on his left a black crescent moon. The biggest change was in his eyes. His right eye was golden yellow with a plus shaped pupil, and his left was purple with a ripple pattern, within the ripple pattern there was a series of magatama.

Sarutobi could only stare. His surrogate grandson from the future was like a walking god. The only articulate thing he could say was,

"What?"

"This was the form bestowed upon me by the Sage of Six Paths. It uses both my sage chakra and the bijuu chakra I hold within me" Kei explained.

"Sage of Six Paths? He truly exists?" Kei simply nodded.

"During the war all of the tailed beasts put their chakra into me, but when they disappeared after the war, their chakra remained, but the conscious that was in the chakra was gone. I still don't know what happened to them. But it is through the bijuu that I can use Yoton, Jiton, and Futton. And it's through Rikudō Oji-chan I can use Yōton, Inton, and In'yōton."

Kei let his Six Paths Sage Mode disperse.

"I can also just use Kurama's Chakra to enter my Nine Tails Chakra Mode." Which Kei displayed, also making the ethereal head of Kurama engulf him. He dispersed it shortly after, and returned to normal.

"Now Jiji, I need you to know, Naruto's Nine Tails Chakra is nothing like mine. His still holds all of Kurama's hatred in it, which can consume Naruto if used to too far of an extent. The Chakra also continuously damages and heals him if he used the cloak form" Kei explained sternly.

"And with cells being destroyed and rebuilt that quickly would shorten his life…" Sarutobi finished gravely.

"But we don't have to worry about that for a while yet!" Kei said, lightening the mood.

"Anyway, that is most of my main jutsu I use. I can add most of my elemental manipulations to my Rasengan, but yeah those would be my strongest jutsu."

"Well, I think you definitely class as a jounin, you could be ANBU if you wanted, but your jutsu seem a bit to 'flashy' to be in ANBU. You're probably stronger than us Kage." Kei nodded in agreement.

"You can have your ANBU take down the barrier now."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:/ Hey all just a note. Yang release and Lava release actually have the same spelling. I have decided to differentiate between the two Yang will be spelt like (Yōton) while Lava will be like (Yoton). I will also post a refresher Author Note on any chapter that I use either of the releases in.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapters thus far!
> 
> \- LONEzy


	11. Chapter 11

Sarutobi sent out a shrilling whistle and shortly after the barrier disappeared and the ANBU squad appeared in front of the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, who is this man?" asked the leader of the squad. She had long purple hair and a cat mask on. ' _The power that he displayed is insane!'_ she thought as she waited for the Hokage to answer her.

"This is Kei Seitoru. He is a newly appointed jounin as of now. Now if you over heard anything we talked about, then it is not to be repeated. Ever. Any information that was discussed is now deemed a SSS-Rank secret, with the punishment being death. The only one who can repeat what was said is Kei himself. Understood?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama" the ANBU squad said in unison. Sarutobi turned to Kei.

"Come by my office soon, I shall give you a house to stay in, and your Hitai-ate. Oh, here" Sarutobi said as he reached into his robes. "Here is some money to buy yourself some clothes, because I'm guessing you don't have any money do you?" Kei rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah… Thanks Jiji!" Kei said as he took the money from the Hokage's outstretched hand, and turned and shushined away.

"Well, I better get back to the office and sort out his accommodation.

 

**-o0O0o-**

 

Kei was walking through Konoha's streets. They were so ALIVE. People milling about the stores. Young kids running through the grown-ups, playing tag. The wafting smells of freshly cooked food bathing the air. Chatter filling the street with the latest gossip, and friendly conversation.

It was a stark difference to the Konoha that he knew. The streets were dead. No life. No chatter. No children running. No delicious smells. Just empty silence.

That's why when Kei first say the bustling village, he couldn't stop the happy tears spilling from his eyes. He took a while just to admire the atmosphere. It was so peaceful. He wiped the tears from his eyes and made his way to the nearest clothing store.

As he pushed the door open the small bell chimed, alerting the clerk of Kei's presence.

"Good day! How may I help you?" the clerk said in a cherry voice.

"Ah, I was looking for some new clothes. Do you have any that are suitable for ninja?"

"Yes dear, right this way" she said as she led Kei over to a wall covered in ninja styled clothes.

Kei browsed through the racks. In the end he found a pair of long black Ninja sandals, along with a pair of black three-quarter pants that ended just beyond the top of his sandals. He found a black short sleeve mesh shirt. He also found a long sleeve, high collar jacket to wear over top. It was orange and on the sleeves, near the cuffs, there were three black stripes. This was the same at the hem of the jacket. He just could not give up wearing orange. He took the items to the counter and paid the store clerk. He then used the changing room there to get changed into his new clothes storing the borrowed ones in the bag the lady had given him. He left the store and made his way to the Hokage's office.

As he was walking down the peaceful street he noticed the sudden mood change of everyone on the street. He could feel the hate and malice that the villagers were projecting. Kei looked around for what had caused the disruption to the peace.

At the far end of the street he saw his younger self, or 'Naruto', as he should say now. All of the villagers were glaring at the young blonde, who was trying his hardest not to let the glares bother him. But then the not so subtle whispers started.

"Look it's that kid…"

"Why is Hokage-sama letting him in the academy?"

"He should stay away from us…"

Kei was about to shout out to them, and tell them to stop, but before he could Naruto took off in the opposite direction of him.

Kei let out a big sigh. This was one thing from the villagers he didn't miss.

 

**-o0O0o-**

 

Kei knocked on the door to the Hokage's office.

"Come in" Sarutobi's voice said from inside.

Kei walked into the room.

"Hey Jiji, I brought you the clothes I borrowed" Kei said as he lifted up the bag.

"Ah, just put them here by my desk, I will get my secretary to return them. Anyway, I like the new clothes. Very nice. Still wearing orange I see" Sarutobi said.

"Of course I am, dattebayo!"

' _And the verbal tick is still there…_ ' Sarutobi thought as he sweat dropped.

"Ah, anyway, here is your Hitai-ate" Sarutobi said as he handed over the Hitai-ate.

Kei looked at the Hitai-ate, the cloth was black and new, but hte plate was nicked, dented and worn. Sarutobi, seeing Kei studying the metal, spoke up.

"It was the Hitai-ate that was in your pocket when you ended up here. I hope you don't mind me replacing the cloth."

"Thank you Jiji. This Hitai-ate is really important to me, I am glad it didn't get lost or destroyed" Kei said with a fond smile as he tied Iruka's old Hitai-ate on his forehead.

"And here are the keys to your apartment. Which is right next to where you used to live. I hope you don't mind. We don't have many state houses left, and that was the one in better condition."

"Don't sweat it Jiji. I can save up money from missions and buy myself a new place."

"If that is all, I must be getting back to work. Come see me tomorrow and I shall sort out a mission for you."

"Okay, see you later Jiji!" Kei said with a wave as he left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have posted all chapters that have been posted on Fanfiction.net so far. The next update should be in 5-6 days. I know the chapters are on the shorter side, but I do that so I am more likely to get updates out while I'm swamped in Uni work. But anyway, please leave a comment to tell me what you think!
> 
> -LONEzy


	12. Chapter 12

Kei was walking through the village, trying to find were Naruto had gone. He happened to glance up at the Hokage monument. He found the young blonde. The Shodaime's face already being covered in colourful paint, and the Nidaime's face was beginning to get graffitied. A malicious grin appeared on Kei's face.

He shushined up to the Hokage monument and grabbed a paint brush and was about to begin painting when he heard a noise of surprise.

"Whaaaa? Who are you? What are you doing?!" Naruto yelled out.

Kei turned to look at Naruto. A cheeky grin spread across his face and he began painting Nidaime's face. Naruto stared at the stranger for a while, wondering who he was, and what he was doing.

"Why, I'm painting! Isn't that obvious?" Kei said in an innocent sounding tone as he began to paint a trail of red paint from the Nidaime's nose, making it look like he had a nose bleed. Naruto eyed the stranger with suspicion, but when he saw the older blonde start to paint graffiti on the Nidaime's face, Naruto shrugged and continued on with his painting, still glancing at the stranger every now and then with suspicion.

Kei was painting a set of geisha lips on the Nidaime when Naruto looked over at him. The young blonde couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the sight. Kei flashed him a big smile as he continued painting the Hokage monument. When Kei heard a smattering of snickers from the younger blonde he glanced over at Naruto. he couldn't help the laugh that bubbled from his lips. Naruto had painted long, girly looking eyelashes on the Nidaime, that when coupled with the geisha lips, made for quite a hilarious sight. 

As the two progressed over the Hokage monument, their chuckles and laughs slowly became louder as more and more ridiculous things were painted on the faces.

_'Sorry dad'_ Kei thought as they began to paint the Yondaime's face. Soon the blonde duo were in full blown hysterics as they painted lipstick onto the Yondaime's face.

"HEY! NARUTO! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!" A voice of a chunin from below screamed at them.

"Oh no, we've been caught! Every man for himself" Kei said as he threw the paint can and brush at the chunin and took off in one direction, Naruto doing the same but in the opposite direction. The poor chunin was doused in two buckets of paint and shit by the paint brushes. This seemed to spur him into a rage as he chased after Naruto, leaving footprints and splatters of rainbow paint in his wake.

As Naruto was running away from the pursuing paint drenched chunin one thought was on his mind. ' _Who was that guy?_ '

**-o0O0o-**

"Hokage-sama! It's an emergence!" a chunin yelled as he ran into the Hokage's office.

"I hope you're not bothering me with something trivial. And don't tell me it's Naruto again" Hiruzen Sarutobi snapped at the chunin.

"But it is Naruto again. Him and some blonde stranger climbed onto the Hokage monument. They put graffiti all over the Hokage."

Sarutobi just sighed in resignation. ' _Do I have to deal with two Narutos worth of pranks? I don't think the village can handle that._ '

**\--o0O0o--**

Kei managed to escape with no pursuers, but he knew Naruto would be running for a while, so he decided to get some of the chores he needed to do before he met up with the younger blonde again. As he made is way towards the market, sure enough, he saw Naruto being chased by a disgruntled group of chunin, who kept yelling at the small blonde to stop. Kei just smiled and shook his head at the antics, as he walked through the market.

He walked into a shinobi equipment store, as he needed new kunai and shuriken pouches.

"Greetings!" the store clerk exclaimed as Kei walked in the door. "What can I do you for?" he asked.

"Ah I need a new kunai and shuriken pouch, along with a supply of kunai and shuriken" Kei said.

"Did you lose yours out in the field or something" the man asked as he began gathering the items.

"Ah, no actually. I just became a ninja today."

"Really? You look a bit old to just recently decide to become a ninja. So do you have to start from the bottom as a genin?"

"Nah, I have been training most of my life to be a ninja, I just lived out in the country, so I couldn't be a ninja. So, after I displayed my skills to Hokage-sama, he granted me the rank of jounin."

"You must have very impressive skills to be able to become jounin right of the bat."

Kei sheepishly laughed.

"Anyway, here you go" the clerk said as he put all the items on the counter. "I will need your name and ninja registration number, just so we can keep track of who is buying them, and that they won't end up in the hands of people who should not have such weapons."

"Kei Seitoru. 012598."

"Okay" the man said as he wrote it down in the log.

Kei collected all his items and fitted them to his person.

"Good luck out there!" the man said as Kei left the store.

Next he walked to a grocery store and bought a week's worth of groceries. With an absurd amount of instant ramen being bought alongside the fresh vegetables, meats, and fruits. He ended up having to create shadow clones to carry all of the food to his apartment.

**-o0O0o-**

Kei had just arrived at the door to his new apartment, right next door to his 'old' apartment. When he opened the door and walked inside, he found it to be almost the exact same as his previous apartment. He walked into the kitchen and checked that the fridge was connected to the power before he began putting all his food away. He wandered to his bedroom, where he saw that the bed already had bedding. He decided to test out the bed to see if it was comfortable to him, he just wasn't counting on being so tired from everything that had happened over the last few day. So when his head touched the pillow he was out like a light.

**-o0O0o-**

When he woke up again he saw that I was beginning to get dark outside. He rolled over and checked his bedside clock.

"6:03. Hmm, I guess I should get some food" Kei mumbled aloud as he began to head to the kitchen to try and decide what he could actually be bothered making. He was thinking of just making some instant ramen, when a sudden thought struck him. He rushed around his apartment in a frenzy, collecting his wallet, scrounging for his keys, that he couldn't remember where he placed, but eventually found, he then shoved his feet into his sandals. As he ran out the door all the surrounding neighbours heard was,

"ICHIRAKU! HERE I COME!"


	13. Chapter 13

Kei pulled back the curtain on the small ramen stand.

"Welcome!" a hearty voice boomed from inside. Kei walked into the small ramen stand and took a seat quickly when he saw Teuchi, hoping he got to the seat before his legs gave out. The last he saw of Teuchi and Ayame was when he was burying them. It broke him to have to burry some of the first people who were ever kind to him.

"What can I get you?" Teuchi asked.

"A large serving of miso ramen with roasted pork fillet please!"

"Right away!" Teuchi said as he turned around to begin preparing the meal. Soon the meal had finished cooking and was served to Kei.

"Itadakimasu!" said as he began to dig into the ramen that he had missed for 10 long years. As Kei was shovelling the food into his mouth, he heard the curtain being pulled aside.

"Teuchi Oji-chan! One large serving of miso ramen with roast- EHHHHHH! What are you doing here?!" Naruto yelled as he saw Kei sitting there slurping his ramen. Kei was surprised at the sudden appearance of his younger self and looked at Naruto in surprise, noodles hanging out of his mouth. He quickly finished slurping them up.

"Ah what a surprise to see you here!" Kei said as he turned further on his seat.

"Naruto, do you know this man?"

The voice stabbed straight at Kei's heart. The curtains were brushed aside to reveal Iruka. Kei fought as hard as he could so he didn't cry. And he succeed. Only just.

"Oh, yeah Iruka-sensei. I met him earlier today. He helped me with my 'art project'" Naruto said with a grin. Kei snapped out of his stupor as the duo sat next to him.

"So did you get away?" Kei said in a teasing tone.

"Almost. Iruka-sensei is just too good!" Naruto said. Just then a bowl of ramen was placed in front of him and Iruka each, Teuchi already knowing their orders.

"Alright! Itadakimasu!" Naruto said as he dug into the meal.

"So you're the stranger that some of the chunin said was up on the monument alongside Naruto" Iruka said in his teacher tone. Kei gulped loudly.

"I- I don't… kn- know what you- you're tal- talking a- about" Kei said stuttering in partial fear.

"Yeah! You should have seen him! He had some great ideas on what to paint!" Naruto said through large mouthfuls of ramen. "Another serving please Oji-chan!"

While Naruto was momentarily distracted Iruka leaned over to Kei.

"Why did you do it?" Iruka asked in suspicion, knowing how the vast majority treated Naruto.

"I thought It looked fun, so I thought I would join in."

"You do look at him differently. Your eyes are not full of hatred."

"Hatred? Why would any hate him? How could you? He's just an innocent kid" Kei said pretending to not know about Naruto's burden. Iruka studied the older blonde for a moment, but when he saw that the man was sincere in his view of Naruto Iruka stuck out his hand.

"I'm Iruka Umino. I haven't seen you around the village before." Kei took the outstretched hand.

"The name is Kei Seitoru. I just recently moved to Konoha. Recently, as in the other day to be exact."

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki dattebayo!" Naruto said introducing himself.

"What brought you to the village Kei-san?"

"Ah, I came here to become a ninja." Iruka eyed him suspiciously for a moment, but then Naruto interrupted his suspicions.

"Really? You're a ninja? What rank are you? What is your best move? How strong are you?" Naruto asked. Speaking a mile per minute. Kei sweat dropped at the scene. 'Did I really use to be that bad?'

"Yep I'm a ninja. I'm actually a jounin!" Naruto gapped in wonder.

"How to you become jounin so quickly if you just moved here the other day?" Iruka asked.

"Ah well, it was a special promotion by the Hokage himself. I showed him how strong I was. I think it also might have had something to do with how I entered the village…"

"And what would that be?"

"I may have been testing a space/time jutsu that teleported me straight into the Hokage's office" Kei said in a quiet voice.

"That was you? There was rumours going around that someone had managed to get into the Hokage's office, but ended up in hospital from the attempt" Iruka asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I was actually aiming for the village gates, but something went wrong and I passed out in the Hokage's office with chakra exhaustion" Kei said rubbing the back of his neck. Iruka sweat dropped. The older blonde had to be around the same age as him, but he acted like a child sometimes.

"Anyway, I better be off. I have think I mission tomorrow, so I'm going to go get some sleep. I'll see you around" Kei said as he finished his ramen and walked out of the stand.

"See-ya Kei-san!" Naruto yelled after the older blonde.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:/ Hey everyone, sorry for the late update. I may not be able to update next week as my grandfather passed away and my uni work has piled up, but I shall try :)
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it is short.
> 
> \- LONEzy


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